Seoul calls for abolition of 'K

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK members stand on stage at the MTV VMAs at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., in this Aug. 28, 2022 photo. Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho urged Pyongyang to abolish its "anti-reactionary thought law," also known as the "K-pop ban," which was adopted in late 2020 to specifically target South Korean cultural content. AFP-Yonhap

'Anti-reactionary thought law' is sign of growing influence of South Korean culture: scholar

By Jung Min-ho

Since its founding in 1948, the dictatorial regime in North Korea has strictly blocked the entry of any information from the outside that could threaten its stability and legitimacy.

Those who spread messages deemed to deviate from its totalitarian principles have always been at risk of punishment under its publication law and administrative guidelines.

This is why North Korea's decision in 2020 to adopt an "anti-reactionary thought law," a move specifically targeting South Korea's cultural content, drew little attention here at the time.

Nearly three years after the law came into force in North Korea to crack down on K-pop and other types of South Korean cultural content, Seoul released its first official message calling on Pyongyang to revoke what is also known as the "K-pop ban."

"We strongly urge North Korean authorities to abolish the anti-reactionary thought law that denies its citizens access to outside information," Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said at a seminar on the human rights of North Koreans in Seoul, Thursday.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks during a seminar on human rights in North Korea at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Thursday.

The demand comes days after his meeting with reporters, during which Kim said the ministry under him would be more vocal in rights issues involving the North by, for example, criticizing "policies such as the K-pop ban" more directly and proactively.

The law, adopted by the North in December 2020, prohibits the creation, distribution and consumption of any content "aimed at breaking down our system." It says violators could face, in serious cases, more than 10 years of hard labor.

According to human rights experts, the reality is harsher than what the law indicates. Citing North Korean defectors, they say one could be sentenced to life imprisonment for watching a South Korean movie for just several hours, while execution is among the possible consequences for distributors, with the regime stepping up crackdowns to unprecedented levels in recent years.

This suggests a growing influence of South Korea's culture in North Korea, one scholar told The Korea Times.

"Despite all the administrative guidelines and other rules against such content, North Korea enacted the new law, which suggests that its ruling elite increasingly feels that South Korean pop culture threatens their control," said the researcher, who declined to be named.

"Unlike content from other countries, North Korean people can relate easily with K-drama actors who speak in a language they can understand, which could influence how they see their own society ― and possibly whether it needs to change," the researcher added.

She said the minister's open demand for the abolition of the law could be helpful in terms of promoting human rights internationally and galvanizing support from like-minded countries.

But in order to make the message more convincing, South Korea should lift its own ban on public access to North Korean media, she added.

Lifting of the ban, a policy pledge made by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, has made little progress over the last year as many remain concerned about security problems among other possible ramifications, which the scholar thinks are overblown.

In response to such criticism, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for the ministry, said officials will continue to step up efforts to make progress on both fronts.